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AMMAN — The Transport Ministry on Monday launched the national strategy for the sector that aims at making Jordan a regional hub for transport.

The strategy includes programmes and projects to develop the sector and meet the demand for transport services.

During the launch ceremony, Transport Minister Lina Shbeeb said the availability of an effective transport sector is key for economic development, due its important role in serving the logistics of productivity processes and increasing the commercial exchange. 

KUWAIT — Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah on Monday commended the ties Jordan and Kuwait enjoy in different economic, political and social sectors, describing bilateral relations as “strong” and “distinguished”. 

During a meeting with a Jordanian parliamentary delegation, which is currently on an official visit to the Gulf country, Sheikh Jaber stressed Kuwait’s commitment to support the Kingdom to enable it to overcome economic challenges it is facing due to the influx of large numbers of Syrian refugees, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

He noted that Jordanian-Kuwaiti ties have developed in various sectors, adding that his country “will continue to support Jordan in light of the current situation it is going through”. 

MP Ahmad Safadi, who is heading the Jordanian delegation, said the relationship between the two countries represents a model in joint Arab action, citing the difficult economic situation the Kingdom is facing due to the Syrian crisis and the presence of thousands of refugees. 

Highlighting that Kuwaiti investments in the Kingdom stand at more than JD10 billion, MP Abdullah Obeidat called for increasing investments in the renewable energy, transport and tourism sectors.

He also acquainted the Kuwaiti premier with Jordan’s reform drive. 

The delegates, who arrived in Kuwait on Sunday, are scheduled to meet with several high-ranking Kuwaiti officials to discuss prospects for further cooperation, ways to boost parliamentary ties and coordinate their stances in issues of mutual concern in the international arena, Petra reported.

AMMAN — Labour Minister Nidal Katamine on Monday said construction companies can employ up to five guest workers, on condition that they hire at least three Jordanians.

In a letter sent to the Jordan Housing Developers Association (JHDA), Katamine noted that it is possible for guest workers with valid permits in this sector to move from one company to another when a project is completed.

The decision follows a recent meeting between the Labour Ministry and JHDA to regulate and organise work in this sector. 

AMMAN — HRH Princess Muna, WHO patron for nursing and midwifery in the Eastern Mediterranean region, on Monday attended a ceremony marking World Health Day, this year held under the theme “Small bite, big threat”. 

World Health Day is celebrated on April 7 every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of WHO in 1948. 

Each year a theme is selected that highlights a priority area of public health; the topic for 2014 is vector-borne diseases.

During the ceremony, Health Minister Ali Hiasat said Jordan was in the forefront in drawing up programmes and adopting international strategies to combat communicable diseases, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He noted that the ministry is committed to cooperating with WHO and other concerned entities to implement campaigns that ensure the Kingdom remains free of vector-borne diseases. 

A malaria case that was recently discovered in Jordan is an introduced case, and there is “no need to worry about the spread of vector-borne diseases in the country”, Mohammad Abdullat, director of the ministry’s communicable diseases department, told The Jordan Times on Monday.

He said health authorities are on the alert and maintain monitoring programmes to prevent vector-borne diseases.

Abdullat said the last case of malaria in the country that was caused by malaria-carrying mosquitoes was registered in 1970, but since then all cases have been  imported.

A Jordanian doctor infected with malaria died earlier this month, which prompted the Health Ministry to conduct a survey in the Southern Shuneh region, as the doctor visited one of the Dead Sea hotels a few days before his death.

However, results showed that there are no malaria-carrying mosquitoes in the area.

Abdullat previously said that malaria is not endemic in Jordan and all diagnosed cases are from visitors to the country, adding that around 82 cases of the disease are annually reported in the Kingdom.

The health official noted that several cases of leishmaniasis, another vector-borne disease, are discovered in Jordan and the ministry provides medication for patients diagnosed with the disease.

He added that the ministry provides anti-malarial medication and the yellow fever vaccine for travellers.

Another official at the ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that in a country like Jordan which hosts thousands of refugees the possibility of the spread of vector-borne diseases is high.

“We should be alert all the time. We cannot say that these diseases have disappeared... mosquitoes and flies that cause these diseases can easily move from one place to another,” the official said.

According to the World Health Organisation’s website, more than half the world’s population is at risk from diseases such as malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, schistosomiasis and yellow fever, carried by mosquitoes, flies, ticks, water snails and other vectors. 

“Every year, more than one billion people are infected and more than one million die from vector-borne diseases.”

“A global health agenda that gives higher priority to vector control could save many lives and avert much suffering. Simple, cost-effective interventions like insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor spraying have already saved millions of lives,” WHO Director General Margaret Chan said. 

“No one in the 21st century should die from the bite of a mosquito, a sandfly, a blackfly or a tick.”

In his address at Monday’s event, Ala Alwan, WHO regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, underlined the significant role governments can play in combating and preventing the outbreak of such diseases, Petra reported. 

During the ceremony, Princess Muna presented awards to three students who took part in a WHO competition to depict the theme of this year’s World Health Day in drawings. 

MAFRAQ — Water Minster Hazem Nasser on Monday inaugurated the Ikeider landfill expansion project, financed by the Saudi Fund for Development.

Nasser said the landfill receives 3,500 cubic metres of waste daily and the nearby Zaatari Refugee Camp, which hosts around 100,000 Syrians, exacerbated the problem and increased the dangers posed to groundwater resources. 

MAFRAQ — Health and public safety personnel in Mafraq municipality on Monday seized a cow infected with foot-and-mouth disease which a man was trying to sell to butchers in Mafraq.

Mafraq Mayor Ahmad Ghassab Hawamdeh said the infected cow was discovered during a routine inspection. 

AMMAN – Border guards on Monday thwarted an attempt by four persons, including a woman, to infiltrate into Syria from Jordan, according to an official source from the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF).

One person was shot in the foot during the operation.

Also, three other people were detained while they were attempting to illegally enter Jordan from Syria and were referred to the concerned authorities, the source said.

Meanwhile, border guards received 412 Syrian refugees during the past 24 hours who entered via various illegal border points.

AMMAN — Strengthening the younger generation’s life skills is crucial for curbing unemployment, which reached 11 per cent by the end of 2013, experts said Monday.

Mastering good communication skills and the English language, coupled with the ability to take decisions, team work and working under pressure are some of the soft skills that will make it easier for young Jordanians to secure jobs in the labour market, according to participants in a conference held by the International Youth Foundation (IYF) under the title “Skills for Life: Improving Employment Outcomes for Youth”.

“Young people are assets and they represent an opportunity for growth. They are problem solvers,” Awais Sufi, executive vice president of programmes at the IYF, said.

Sufi called for coordinated efforts and partnerships to support projects that seek to enhance young people’s soft skills.

Addressing unemployment among the younger generation should be a top priority in the region, Abdeladim Guerrouj, minister delegate to the minister of national education and vocational training of Morocco, said at the event.

Noting that there are tremendous social, political and economic challenges due to unemployment among youths in the Arab world, Guerrouj stressed the importance of focusing on vocational training. He added that the availability of well-trained and capable human resources helps in attracting investments.

Experts at the event highlighted that academic skills are insufficient to help graduates find jobs.

“Education is not enough to enable young people to find jobs, especially if it is not in line with the needs of the labour market,” Labour Ministry Secretary General Hamada Abu Nejmeh said in his address at the event.

He also reviewed the Kingdom’s efforts to enhance the skills of young Jordanians, referring to a series of programmes and initiatives to secure jobs for them.

Polly Dunford, USAID deputy mission director and director for Syria-related programmes, made similar remarks.

Reviewing USAID’s efforts to empower young people, Dunford said improving their skills plays a key role in enabling them to penetrate the labour market.

She also underscored the important role families play in helping their sons and daughters acquire skills needed in the labour market.

Several experts in the field of youth empowerment and representatives of NGOs, academia and the private sector are attending the two-day conference.

Several topics will be discussed during the event, including challenges facing projects that seek to enhance soft skills, the role of academic institutions and understanding the needs of the labour market. 

AMMAN — The world has to provide 600 million job opportunities in the next 15 years to meet the demands of young people, UN Secretary General’s Youth Envoy Ahmad Hindawi said on Sunday.

“Young people have to create their own small-sized enterprises, because even the partnership between the public and private sectors may not fulfil this high demand on jobs,” Hindawi said, urging the government to facilitate legal procedures and funding for young entrepreneurs, in addition to providing adequate training. 

In a discussion on the reality, future and ambition of youth at the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum, he noted that the definition of the word “youth” differs from one country to another, but “the UN defines youth for statistical purposes as individuals aged between 15 and 24 years”. 

The UN envoy noted that young people face a number of challenges in education, finding jobs, starting families, and in civil and political engagement.

“Jordan and the Arab region achieved high percentages in the quantity of education,” he said, adding that the quality of education should also be taken into consideration.

Hindawi noted that in 2012, more than 97.7 per cent of children aged between six and 15 in the Kingdom were enrolled in school, despite “high illiteracy rates” in the region.

The mismatch between the outcomes of education and the needs of the job market is inevitable worldwide, he said at the discussion, organised by the Economic Policy Development Forum.

“There is no way that a university certificate can fully guarantee finding a job… because job markets always change faster than the development of educational institutions.” 

“Higher rates of unemployment are found among holders of higher education degrees,” which is “a dangerous sign” of the previously mentioned mismatch and the absence of strategic planning for education, he pointed out.

The rates of female involvement in higher education institutions are higher than those for males; however, unemployment is higher among females, he told the audience.

Citing International Labour Organisation figures, Hindawi noted that 75 million individuals worldwide are unemployed and do not have education or training opportunities.

He highlighted the common mistake of targeting the 15 to 24 age bracket when measuring unemployment since working at the age of 15 is “illegal in most countries”.

Hindawi warned against what he called the “poverty trap”.

“An individual who is born into poverty is more likely to receive poor education and poor job opportunities,” he said, noting that youths usually cannot breakaway from this trap.

Young people, who constitute around 70 per cent of the region’s population, also face economic difficulties in their attempts to establish families, he said.

“According to a report by the Dubai School of Government, marriage expenses in a country like Egypt equal the salary of a young Egyptian for 27 months.” 

Hindawi also noted that young people’s “low” civic and political engagement is a message they send to indicate that they are not convinced of the meaning and effect of their participation.

He urged governments, especially in this region, to adopt the culture of investing in young people rather than supporting them, and to adopt the UN’s aim of working with youth, not for them.

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Monday visited La Storia Museum on Mount Nebo in Madaba where she added a few small stones to what aims to be the largest mosaic in the world.

The “King’s Way” mosaic project seeks to enter the Guinness World Records with the world’s largest mosaic portrait that will, when finished, span over 180 square metres, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s office. 

The mosaic is a visual representation of the various cities peppered along the 335-kilometre King’s Highway, which twists and winds its way through the heart of Jordan, connecting Madaba, Karak, Tafileh, Shobak and Petra, and is the world’s oldest continuously used communication route, according to http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo. 

Work on the mosaic started in March 2013 and every visitor to the La Storia complex can contribute to the creation of the map by adding small stones to it. 

All colours and kinds of stones found in Jordan, including basalt, granite, marble and sandstone, are being used for the map, which will not only be the largest mosaic in the world, but also the largest collaborative artwork of its scale.

It is approximated that, once completed, the mosaic will comprise 3.5 million stones; it is estimated that 1 million pieces have been placed by around 45,000 people so far, the statement said.

Her Majesty toured the museum, which tells the story of the region represented by mechanically animated statues and models, and incorporates a mixture of the religious and cultural heritage of Jordan and the region. 

The museum contains several models that represent different historical periods, some of which portray aspects of life in villages and cities of the Kingdom.

Queen Rania was accompanied on her tour by Samer Twal, chairman of the Madaba Tourism Development and Heritage Preservation Association (MTA), Bashar Twal, director and co-founder of La Storia Museum, and Munther Hamarneh, director of MTA. 

Her Majesty also had the opportunity to meet with the MTA board of trustees and was briefed on the association’s goals and plans for the future. 

During the meeting, the Queen explained how the presence of such local associations plays a crucial role in promoting domestic tourism and creates job opportunities for area residents.

The museum also contains a special wing dedicated to handicraft training such as decorating seashells, producing mosaics, wood sculpting, embroidery and ostrich egg painting. Finished art products are put up for sale in a showroom.

The MTA was established in 2006 asa voluntary not-for-profit organisation to promote tourism and economic growth in Madaba in line with the country’s National Tourism Strategy.